


Escape the Maze

by MoviesOccupyMyLife



Series: The Maze [1]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, The Maze Runner AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-06 15:29:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13414200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoviesOccupyMyLife/pseuds/MoviesOccupyMyLife
Summary: One day, Beca arrives in the Glade- an area surrounded by a giant maze.  Just like her fellow peers, Beca has no recollection of her past.  Beca quickly becomes a part of the Bellas.  Together, they must escape the maze. (The Maze Runner AU)





	1. Welcome to the Bellas

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my new multi-chapter fic (As if I don't already have two others to work on). I've been working on this for the past few days, and it's perfect timing as I just hit 500 followers on Tumblr. I hope you enjoy! :)

Beca bolts up with a gasp. She looks around, she’s in a box- no, an elevator. Beca panics. 

“Help! Help me!” She shouts as she pounds on the elevator walls.

The elevator comes to a stop. The top opens and Beca closes her eyes as she sees the sun. She opens her eyes and squints, seeing a bunch of girls. 

“Grab her,” someone says. 

One of the girls jumps down into the elevator, “Day one, Greenie, Rise and shine.” The girl grabs her by the shirt and pulls her to her feet. The girl hops out of the elevator and holds her hand out for Beca.

Beca grabs her hand and she’s pulled up. 

Beca looks at the girls and does what she does best, runs. 

“We’ve got a runner!” one of the girls shouts from behind Beca. 

Beca continues running, nothing could stop her. Well, except tripping and falling, which is exactly what she does. 

Beca trips and falls, hitting the ground hard. Beca hears laughter from the group behind her. She sits up, looking around, seeing, one, two, three, four concrete walls. She stands up, “What the fuck?”

Someone grabs Beca from behind.

“Hey! Get off of me,” Beca fights against the person. 

“No can do,” the girl says.

The girl brings Beca over to what seems to be holding cells. 

“Sorry ‘bout this,” the girl says before throwing Beca into one of them and closing the door. 

“She’s all yours,” the girl says walking away from the cell. 

Beca looks around. Not seeing much to the cells, Beca takes a step forward, looking around the giant area. People are working, livestock wanders around, and-

“-Hey.”

Beca falls back. She watches as someone squats down to look into the cell door.

“Hey there,” the girl says, “No more running, okay?”

Beca slowly nods.

“Good!” The girl stands up, unlocks, and opens the door before squatting back down.

Beca stares at the girl. 

“My name is Aubrey”, she says, “Can you tell me anything about yourself? Who you are? Where you came from? Anything?”

Beca looks down, “No.” 

“What about your name?” Aubrey asks. 

Beca looks up with wide eyes, “I can’t remember anything. Why can’t I remember anything?”

“Its okay,” Aubrey says, “That’s normal. It happened to all of us. You’ll remember your name in a day or two. It’s the one thing they let us keep.” 

They. Who’s they? 

“What is this place?” Beca asks. 

“Come on,” Aubrey holds her hand out for Beca, “Let me show you.”

Beca grabs Aubrey’s hand and Aubrey pulls her out of the cell. 

Aubrey starts taking Beca around, “We eat here, we sleep here, we grow our own food, we build our own shelter. Whatever we need, the Box provides. Otherwise, it’s up to us.” 

“Uhm, the Box?” 

“Oh yeah. The Box is sent up once a month with some supplies and a Greenie.” Aubrey says, “And this time, it happened to be you, so welcome.” 

“By who? Who sent us here?” Beca asks.

“We don’t know.” 

Beca raises an eyebrow at Aubrey.

“Hey, Aubrey! You okay?”

Beca turns, seeing another girl walk over.

“Greenie, meet Stacie,” Aubrey smiles, “When I’m not around, she’s in charge.” 

“Good thing you’re always around then. That was a nice run you did earlier. Thought you would’ve made a really good runner, until you fell.” Stacie smiles

“Runner?” Beca asks. 

“Can you go find Amy,” Aubrey asks Stacie. 

“Yeah,” Stacie says walking away. 

“Thanks,” Aubrey says. 

“Sorry I’m being quick about this,” Aubrey puts her hand on Beca’s shoulder as they start walking, “You came up late and there’s a lot to do. We’ve got something special planned for tonight.” 

Beca nods.

Aubrey leads Beca over to a treehouse like structure, “Hope you’re not afraid of heights,” And Aubrey starts climbing. 

Beca looks up at it and follows Aubrey to the top.

Beca reaches the top and looks around, leaning on the rail. 

“This is everything we have,” Aubrey says, “We all worked hard for it. If you respect this place, we will get along perfectly fine.” 

“What’s out there?” Beca asks pointing to one of the walls. 

Aubrey looks over at the wall and turns back to Beca, “We only have three rules. One, do your part, we don’t have time for people to just sit around. Two, never harm any of the Bellas, nothing will work if we don’t have trust. And the most important, never go beyond the walls. Do you understand me, Greenie?”

Beca is hesitant, but she nods. 

“Hey, Aubrey!”

Aubrey looks over the railing and sees Amy, “Hey Amy. Where’ve you been?”

Beca looks over the railing and sees a girl with blonde hair.

“Keeping up with the work,” Amy says with an Australian accent.

 

“Come on,” Aubrey says, making her way back down. 

Beca follows. 

When Beca’s feet touch the ground, she’s face-to-face with the blonde girl. 

“Greenie, this is Amy,” Aubrey says, “She’ll be showing you around more.” 

“Hey there, shortstack,” Amy says, “Shall we get going?” 

Beca looks at Aubrey, receiving a nod. 

“Come on,” Amy says, starting to walk, “It’s basically the same for all of us. We wake up in the Box, Aubrey gives us the tour, then here we are.” 

Beca looks around as Amy starts setting up for the night. 

“You’re already doing better than I did,” Amy says, “I clunked my pants three times before they got me out of the Box.”

Amy turns towards Beca, only, Beca isn’t there anymore. Amy looks around, seeing Beca walk towards the wall.

“Ah, come on,” Amy says as she runs towards Beca. 

Amy catches up to Beca, “Where are you going?”

“I just wanna see,” Beca says. 

“Look around all you want, but you better not go out there,” Amy warns.

“Why not, what’s back there?”

“I don’t know, I just do what I’m told. And we aren’t supposed to leave.” 

Beca watches as two girls run back into the area surrounded by the walls.

The girls run towards them. Beca makes eye contact with the redhead girl. 

“Hey, Amy. New Greenie? How does it feel to be promoted?” One of the girls asks.

“Feels great, Alice,” Amy says giving a thumbs up. 

“I thought no one was allowed to leave,” Beca says. 

“No, we aren’t allowed to leave,” Amy says, “They’re different, they’re runners. They know more about the maze than anyone.” 

“Wait. What?” Beca asks.

“What?” 

“You just said ‘Maze’” Beca says.

“I did?”

“Uh yeah.”

Beca walks closer to the wall, looking in. 

“Where are you going? What are you doing?” Amy asks, following Beca. 

“I’m just gonna go look,” Beca says.

“You can’t. No one leaves, especially now. It isn’t safe,” Amy says standing in front of Beca. 

“Okay,” Beca holds her hands up, “I’m not gonna go.”

Beca looks behind Amy, and into the maze, only seeing a path that leads to a wall. She takes a few steps closer. 

“Hey! 

Beca turns just in time to get shoved. She falls and hits the ground. 

“We gotta stop meeting like this, Greenie.” 

“Get away from me!” Beca says, quickly getting up. 

“Okay! Calm down.” 

“Don’t touch me!” 

“Take it easy,” the girl says putting her hands up.

Everyone runs over to the scene. 

“What the hell is wrong with you guys?” Beca asks.

“Just calm down, all right?” Stacie says running over to Beca.

“No! Why won’t you tell me what’s out there?” Beca asks, pointing behind her.

“I can’t let you leave,” Aubrey says.

“We are trying to protect you,” Aubrey says. 

“You can’t keep me here!” 

“Why not?” 

A loud noise erupts from behind Beca, causing her to slowly turn around. Fast wind blows through the opening in the wall, blowing Beca’s hair. 

“What the hell?” 

The walls of the maze start slowly moving together, until eventually, it’s closed. 

Beca stares. 

“Next time, I’m gonna let you leave,” the girl says before walking away, the crowd following. 

“Welcome to the Glade,” Aubrey says, walking away. 

Beca stays put, her gaze held on the wall. 

 

 

Night falls and the party starts. 

Beca stands back as she watches some of the Bellas start a fire.

“Light it up!” Aubrey says, and the Bellas throw fire-lit spears into the fire pit. 

Cheers erupt from the crowd of people. 

Beca sighs and sits down, leaning against a log. 

“Anyone sitting there?” 

Beca looks up, “No.” 

Stacie sits down next to Beca, “Hell of a first day, huh?”

Beca nods.

“Here, have a little fun,” Stacie hands Beca a jar. 

Beca looks at the liquid in the jar and takes a sip. Beca spits out the liquid as soon as it enters her mouth. 

“What is that?” 

“I don’t actually know,” Stacie says, “It’s CR’s recipe.” 

Beca follows Stacie’s line of sight, seeing CR wrestling someone. 

“Well, she’s still an asshole,” Beca says. 

“She saved your life. The maze is a dangerous place.” 

“We’re trapped here, aren’t we?” 

“For the moment,” Stacie says, “But, you see those girls there?” Stacie turns around and points. 

Beca turns, following Stacie’s point. She sees the redhead from earlier sitting by the fire. 

“Those are the runners. The one in the middle, the redhead, that’s Chloe. She’s the keeper of the runners. Every morning when those doors open, they run the maze...they map it, memorize it, trying to find a way out.”

“How long have they been looking?” 

“Three years.” 

“They haven’t found anything?” Beca asks.

“It’s easier said than done,” Stacie says, “Now listen,”

Beca listens, hearing a weird noise. 

“You hear that? It’s the maze, changing. It changes every night.”

“How is that possible?” 

“Ask the people who put us in here, if you ever meet those bastards,” Stacie says, “The truth is, the runners are the only ones who know what’s out there. They’re the strongest and fastest of us all. And that’s a good thing, because if they don’t make it back before those doors close...then they’re stuck out there for the night. No one has ever survived a night in the maze.” 

Beca stares at Stacie, “What happens to them?” 

“We call them Grievers. No one has ever seen one and lived to tell about it. But they are out there.” 

There’s an awkward silence, neither of the girls knowing what to say. 

“Well, that’s enough questions for one night, come on,” Stacie says, breaking the silence, “You’re the guest of honor!”

“Uh, no, no,” Beca says. 

“No! Come on. Let me show you around,” Stacie stands up, “Come on.” 

Beca stands up and follows Stacie. 

“Over there we got the builders, very good with their hands, but not a lot going on upstairs,” Stacie points to her head, “We’ve got our two meds, Emily and Lily.” 

“Hey what’s up?”

“Yo, Stacie.” 

“What if I want to be a runner?” 

“No one wants to be a runner,” Stacie says, “Plus, you’ve gotta get chosen.”

“By who?”

Beca gets knocked off of her feet when someone is thrown into her. Beca looks around. 

“What do you say, Greenie. Wanna see what you’re made of?” CR asks. 

People start chanting and cheering. 

Beca steps forward, people cheering even louder. 

“Okay, rules are simple, I try to push you out of the circle, you try to last more than five seconds.” 

People laugh. 

“Take it easy on the Greenie, CR,” someone shouts. 

“Ready?” CR asks, getting into position.

Beca nods. 

CR runs at her, pushing her out of the circle, someone pushing Beca back into the circle, giving CR the chance to shove her to the ground. 

Beca hits the ground and looks up at CR.

“Get up Greenie, we aren’t done yet.”

Beca gets up. 

“Stop calling me Greenie.”

“What do you want to be called? Shank?” People laugh. 

“What do you think? Does she look like a Shank?”

Beca charges at CR, but CR throws Beca to the ground. 

Chloe raises her eyebrows at the intense fight. 

“I think I’ve settled on Shank,” CR says. 

Beca gets up, and charges CR again, grabbing her torso. 

CR pushes Beca. Beca tries to get traction with her feet, but she can’t. So she moves to the side, CR falling over. 

“There you go Greenie,” Aubrey says. 

Chloe smiles, impressed by the action. 

Beca smirks, “Not bad for a Greenie, huh?”

CR kicks Beca’s legs out from under her. She lands hard, hitting her head. She groans as pain surges through her body.

“Beca,” she whispers to herself. 

“Hey!” Beca exclaims, “Beca! I remember my name. I’m Beca!” 

“Beca!” Aubrey shouts and points, the crowd cheering. 

The Bellas gather around Beca. 

“Welcome home, Beca,” Emily says with a smile.

“Good job… Beca,” CR says. 

A loud screeching comes from the maze. 

“What the hell was that?” Beca asks. 

“That was a Griever,” CR says, “But don’t worry, nothing gets through those walls.” 

“Time to tuck it in for the night,” Aubrey says. 

Everyone starts dispersing. 

 

 

“You’re safe here with us.” 

“Wicked is good.” 

“What’s out there?”

“Beca, Beca. Can you hear me? Everything is going to change.”

 

 

“Beca.” 

Beca gasps, but a hand covers her mouth. 

“Shh,” Aubrey says, “Follow me.” 

Beca gets up and follows Aubrey. 

“It’s peaceful, isn’t it?” Aubrey asks as they walk, “It may be hard to believe, but it wasn’t always this way.”

Beca looks down, noticing a knife in Aubrey’s hand. 

“We had dark days. We lost a lot of girls to fear. To panic. But we’ve come far since then. We established order, made peace.” They stop walking.

“Yeah. I’m not sure why you’re telling me this,” Beca looks up at the blonde.

“I’m telling you because you aren’t like the others. You’re curious, but you’re one of us now. You need to know what that means,” Aubrey hands the knife to Beca. 

Aubrey points to the wall. Beca turns towards it, seeing a bunch of names, some crossed off.

“What happened to them,” Beca asks, pointing at a name that's crossed off. 

“Like I said…” Aubrey says, “Dark days, Beca.”

Beca takes a few steps towards the wall and puts the knife up to it, carving her name into the wall. 

 

 

Beca is working with Stacie, doing some gardening. 

“Has anyone tried climbing to the top?” She asks, looking at the ivy that covers the walls. 

“Tried it, the ivy doesn’t go all the way to the top,” Stacie says, “Anyways, where would you go from there?”

“Well, what about the Box? Next time it comes up-”

“-No, we tried that. The Box won’t go back down with someone in it.” 

“Okay, what if we-”

“-No, we tried it, all right?” Stacie says, irritated, “Twice. Trust me. Anything you think of, we’ve already tried. The only way out of here is through the Maze.”

Beca looks down. 

“Now, you wanna be helpful?” Stacie asks as she picks up a bucket, “Go dig up some more fertilizer.” Stacie tosses the bucket. 

Beca drops the shovel in her hands and catches the bucket. 

 

 

Beca is in the forestry area of the Glade. 

“Just get the fertilizer, Beca,” she mumbles to herself. 

“Are you sure, guys? I can’t help in any other way?”

“No, just get the fertilizer.” 

“You know where it is, just out in the middle of the woods.”

Beca finishes the conversation she was having with herself and looks around. She bends down, seeing “Grace” carved into a wooden plank, bones scattered around it.  
Beca stands up and turns around, jumping when she sees Alice. 

“Uh, Alice, right?” Beca asks, “I don’t know if we ever-”

Beca stops, noticing how heavily Alice is breathing. 

“Are you okay?” Beca asks. 

Alice runs at Beca, tackling her to the ground. 

“Get the hell off me!” Beca yells.

Alice pins Beca down, “It’s all your fault. I saw you! You did this! I saw you!” Alice yells. 

Beca struggles under her grip. 

Alice digs her nails into Beca’s arm, causing Beca to scream out in pain. 

Alice puts her hand around Beca’s neck, squeezing hard.

Beca pushes her hand into Alice’s face, gasping for the air she can’t get. She punches Alice, the hand from her neck retreating. Beca looks to the side, grabbing the skull she saw moments before and picks it up, smashing it against Alice’s head. 

Alice falls off of Beca and Beca takes the chance to get up and run. 

“Hey! Hey!” Beca calls out, hoping someone will hear. 

Alice manages to grab the back of Beca’s shirt, causing the both of them to tumble down a hill.

“Hey!” Beca calls out, once standing up and starting to run, “Help!” 

Beca runs out of the forest, Alice on her tail, “Help! Help!” 

Beca continues running, people realizing what’s going on. 

“Hel-”

Alice tackles Beca. 

“I’ll kill you!” Alice says. 

Everyone runs over. 

“Hey!” Stacie says.

Alice looks over and Stacie hits her with the shovel and Alice falls off of Beca. 

“Hold her down,” Stacie says. A few girls hold Alice down, “What are you doing?” 

Beca looks over at Alice, blood dripping from a cut on her head.

“Calm down, Alice,” CR says.

“What the hell happened?” Emily asks. 

“She just attacked me!” Beca says. 

“Are you okay?” Amy asks. 

“Calm down, Alice,” CR says. 

Aubrey walks over, looking down at Alice. 

“No, no,” Alice says. 

“Lift her shirt,” Aubrey says. 

Stacie lifts Alice’s shirt, revealing a big black mark that’s spreading. 

“No! No!” Alice cries, “Please, please.”

“He’s been stung,” CR says, “In the middle of the day?”

Beca looks, eyes wide. 

“Help me, please,” Alice says. 

“Put her in the pit,” Aubrey says. 

“Alright everybody, help take her to the pit.” 

“No!” Alice cries.

“Med-jack,” Stacie calls. 

Emily runs over to help.

“Please don’t do it!” 

“Calm down, Alice!” 

A bunch of girls help lift Alice, carrying her to the pit. 

Beca stands still, staring. 

 

 

“So what happened to her?” Beca asks. 

“It’s called ‘The Changing’, it’s what happens when someone gets stung,” Aubrey says.” 

Beca looks at Aubrey. 

“Listen, we haven’t been able to get a clear word out of Alice since it happened,” Aubrey says, “She’s not making any sense, and she’s only going to get worse. The infection is spreading, she’s dangerous. What did she say to you?”

“She uh, she said she saw me...and that this was all my fault. How could this be my fault?”

Aubrey is silent. 

“Look, you should get some rest,” Aubrey says, getting up and walking away. 

“Wait, Aubrey.”

“Yeah?” She turns around. 

“What’s going to happen to her?” 

Aubrey looks down. 

 

 

Everyone stands around the door to the maze. Some people a hold long stick and some hold spears. 

“Just listen to me. Please, listen to me!” Alice says. Her hands are tied behind her head as Chloe walks her over, “Please, Chloe!” 

Chloe brings her close to the maze doors, taking a knife from her pack and cutting the rope around Alice’s hands. 

Beca runs over, seeing the crowd of people. 

Alice coughs up blood. 

“No, please,” Alice begs. 

Chloe stands at the maze doors, holding a bag of meat, she throws it into the maze.

The maze doors start to close. 

“Poles!” Aubrey calls. 

Everyone who has a pole points it at Alice. 

“Move in!”

They all start moving closer to Alice, forcing her back. 

“No, please!” 

They push Alice into the doors of the maze, holding their poles and spears in place. 

“I’ll get better! Please!”

Beca watches as Alice has no choice but to go into the maze. 

Everyone with a pole pulls it back before the maze doors shut. 

Beca stares at the maze doors. 

“She belongs to the maze now,” Aubrey says. 

Beca looks over at Aubrey. 

Everyone starts to disperse, leaving Beca to question what just happened. 

 

 

Beca sits from afar, watching as CR crosses Alice’s name off of the wall. 

“Do you think she might make it?” Beca asks. 

“Alice? No,” Amy says, “No one survives a night in the maze. We just gotta forget about her.” 

Beca looks over, seeing Aubrey, a small book in her hand. Beca frowns and looks at the fire in front of her. 

 

 

“Beca.” 

“Wicked is good.” 

“Don’t make it easy on them.”

“Beca, everything is going to change.”

“Wicked is good.” 

“This is gonna hurt a little.”

“Wicked is good.”

“Beca, you have to choose.”

 

 

Beca bolts up. 

She looks around, hearing the maze doors open. Beca sees Chloe and Aubrey run into the maze. 

 

 

“Why would Aubrey go into the maze? She’s not a runner.”

“Things are different now,” Stacie says, “Aubrey went to go trace down Alice’s footsteps before sundown. Look, are you going to help?”

“So she’s going back to where Alice was just stung-”

“Aubrey knows what she’s doing...all right? She knows better than any of us.”

“What does that mean?” 

“It’s like you’ve heard. Every month, the Box sends up a new arrival. Someone had to be first, right? Someone had to have spent a whole month in the Glade, alone. That was Aubrey.”

Stacie goes back to what she was doing. 

“I mean, it couldn’t have been easy. But when those other girls started coming up, one after the other, he saw the truth. And he learned that the most important thing is that we all have each other. Because we are all in this together.”

Beca looks at Amy, who is sitting right next to her and then back at Stacie. 

She gets up and helps Stacie, slamming her machete at the roots of a tree. 

Beca looks up at the sky, seeing dark clouds. 

 

 

Everyone stands under a hut, the rain coming down hard. 

“They should be back by now,” Beca says, “What happens if they don’t make it?”

“They’re gonna make it,” Stacie says. 

“But what happens if they don’t?”

“They’re gonna make it,” Stacie repeats. 

 

 

The rain has stopped and everybody is gathered by the maze doors. 

“Come on, can’t we send someone after them?” Beca asks. 

“That’s against the rules,” CR says, “Either they make it back, or they don’t.” 

“Can’t risk losing anyone else,” Stacie says. 

The doors start closing. 

“Oh, no,” Amy says. 

“There!” Beca points, seeing Chloe and Aubrey coming around the corner. 

“Wait, something’s wrong,” Stacie says.

Beca looks closer, seeing Chloe carry Aubrey, 

“Come on, Chloe, you can do it!” Amy shouts. 

Everyone starts shouting. 

“Chloe, you gotta leave her!” CR shouts. 

“They aren’t going to make it,” Stacie says.

Beca runs in, feeling someone snatch at her shirt, but quickly let go. 

“Beca, no!” Amy shouts. 

Beca feels the wall against her body as she slides through. 

She makes it through just as the doors slam shut.

Beca looks back at the doors, her heart pounding.

She turns around and looks at Chloe, who is on her knees.

“Good job,” Chloe says, “You just killed yourself.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two! Sorry for the wait. Updates are going to be slow.

“W..what?” Beca asks.

Chloe sits down, Aubrey’s body next to her. 

Beca walks over to Chloe and points at Aubrey, “What happened to her?”

“What’s it look like?” Chloe asks, her tone cold, “She got stung.”

“What happened to her head?” Beca asks. 

“I did what I had to do.”

Beca looks back at Chloe. 

A loud rumbling comes from the maze. 

Chloe stands up, groaning. 

“Okay, help me get her up,” Beca says. 

“We gotta go,” Chloe says walking away, “The maze is already changing.” 

“Hey, Chloe!” 

Chloe stops. 

“We can’t just leave her here.” 

 

 

“We gotta get her up!” Beca says. 

Beca and Chloe struggle to carry Aubrey through the maze. 

“Set her down,” Chloe says. 

They set Aubrey on the ground. 

A loud screech is heard. 

“This isn’t gonna work. We gotta go,” Chloe says.

“What do you mean?” Beca says, “We gotta hide her.” 

“Where?” Chloe asks, starting to pace. 

“I..I don’t know.” 

Chloe scoffs, “Nice plan.”

“Come on, you’re telling me there’s not a single place we could take her?” 

Chloe turns and grabs the front of Beca’s shirt, pushing her into the wall, “Listen to me, Greenie, all right. Take a look around. There’s nowhere to go!”

Chloe lets go of Beca and backs up, “You don’t get it. We are already dead.” 

Beca looks up at Chloe and stands up. 

She looks past Chloe and to the wall behind her, it’s covered in ivy. 

Beca looks back to Chloe. 

Beca walks over to Aubrey and starts dragging her towards the ivy covered wall. She starts wrapping Aubrey in the ivy. 

“Let’s wrap it around her upper body, that way we can hoist her up into it,” Chloe says. 

Beca nods. 

 

 

“One...two...three,” They begin to hoist Aubrey up into the ivy covered wall. 

Chloe hears the maze change nearby and looks. 

“Hey, Chloe what are you doing?” Beca asks.

Chloe watches as the maze door opens, revealing a Griever. 

“Chloe?” 

“We gotta go. We gotta go now!” Chloe says. 

“No, just a little more and we’ll tie it off,” Beca says. 

Chloe looks back at the Griever and it shrieks. 

“Chloe, stay with me,” Beca says, “Just a little more, we’re almost there.” 

“I’m sorry, Greenie.” 

“What?” 

Chloe lets go of the ivy and starts running. 

“Chloe!” 

Beca is pulled to the wall and Aubrey falls a little bit. Beca pulls on ivy. 

Still holding onto the ivy, Beca slowly slides under the ivy. 

She looks out from under and sees metal legs slam into the ground. Beca stares at it, not moving. 

Once it passes, Beca lets out a breath, “Okay.”

Beca gets out from under the ivy and quickly finds something to tie the ivy holding Aubrey up. 

Beca quickly ties it and tugs on it to make sure it is secure. 

Beca then moves around the corner, hearing a Griever.

She looks around the corner, seeing that the Griever is gone. She looks up into the ivy, seeing Aubrey is still there. 

Beca hears the maze change and shrieking. 

She starts moving through the maze. 

Beca steps in something gooey. She picks her foot up and looks at it. She looks around. 

Beca feels something drip onto her shirt and looks up. 

A Griever jumps down from the maze walls. 

Beca screams and starts running. 

Beca runs as fast as she can. 

She turns and the Griever pops up in front of her. 

Beca turns around, not knowing where to go. 

The ground shakes as the maze changes. 

Beca looks around, seeing three walls around her, “Oh, shit!” 

The Griever turns the corner and Beca turns to one of the walls and runs. Beca starts climbing the ivy. 

Beca reaches the top and runs. The Griever is right behind Beca. Beca comes to a gap and stops. She turns around, to run the other way, but the Griever is there. Beca turns back around and runs, jumping at the edge of the wall. 

Beca slams into the other wall, grabbing onto the ivy. 

The Griever jumps right after Beca, landing below her. The Griever pulls one of its legs back and slams it forward. Beca dodges it, but it cuts the ivy, causing Beca to fall. She tries grabbing at the ivy on the wall, but fails. 

She groans as she hits the ground, but quickly gets up and starts running. 

Something slams into Beca and she jumps. 

“You’re a crazy son of a bitch,” Chloe says.

The Griever starts coming towards them. 

“Come on, follow me,” Chloe says, “Come on!”

Beca runs after Chloe.

“The maze is changing,” Chloe says, “Come on, come on!” 

They run forward, “This section is changing, we can lose it down here!” Chloe says.

Chloe runs, but Beca stays, getting an idea. 

“Beca! What are you waiting for? Get out of there!”

Beca sees the Griever turn the corner, “Come on!”

Beca starts running towards the part of the maze that’s changing. 

“Come on, Beca! Don’t look back!” Chloe shouts. 

Beca pumps her legs. 

“Move it, Beca! Move your ass! Come on, Greenie!”

Beca barely makes it through the wall as it slams shut. 

She runs into Chloe and falls down. 

Beca breathes hard.

“Are you okay?” The redhead asks. 

Beca nods and shifts to her knees.

“Come on, we should go get Aubrey.” 

 

 

Beca and Chloe turn the corner, walking down the long entrance of the maze.

“Yeah!” Amy shouts. 

“I got her, I got her,” Emily says, grabbing Aubrey. 

“What happened out there?”

“How did you guys make it out?” 

“You saw a Griever?” Amy asks.

“Yeah, I saw one,” Beca says. 

“She didn’t just see it,” Chloe shakes her head, “She killed it.”

Everybody looks at Beca. 

 

 

Everyone is gathered in a building, CR talking in the front. 

“Things are changing.” 

Some people nod their heads in agreement. 

“There’s no denying that. First, Alice gets stung in broad daylight, and then Aubrey.” CR pauses, “And now our Greenie, here, has taken it upon herself to go into the maze.” 

Beca looks up at CR. 

“Which is a clear violation of our rules,” CR says. 

“Yeah, but she saved Aubrey’s life,” Emily says. 

CR looks over at Emily, “Did she?” 

Stacie, who is leaning against the wall, raises an eyebrow. 

“For three years, we have coexisted with these things, three years, and now,” CR turns and points at Beca, “You’ve killed one.” 

Chloe looks over at Beca, who is now looking at the ground. 

“Who knows what that could mean for us,” CR says.

“Well what do you suggest we do?” Stacie asks. 

“She has to be punished,” CR says.

Everyone starts talking, protesting the idea. 

“She killed a Griever,” Amy says, “That has to mean something!”

“Chloe,” Stacie says.

Chloe looks over. 

“You were there with her, what do you think?”

Chloe sighs, I think….” 

Beca looks over.

“In all the time we’ve been here, no one has ever killed a Griever before. When I turned tail and ran, this dumb shank stayed behind to help Aubrey. Look, I don’t know if she’s brave or stupid, but whatever it is, we need more of it. I say we make her a runner.” 

“A runner? What?” Emily asks.

People start complaining. 

“Chloe, let’s not jump the gun here,” Emily says. 

Stacie smiles. 

“Beca! Beca! Beca!” Amy starts chanting, stopping when no one joins her. 

“If you want to throw the Greenie a parade, that’s fine,” CR says, “But if there is one thing I know about the maze, it is that you do not-”

CR gets cut off by a loud siren. 

Stacie pushes herself off of the wall and runs out of the building, everyone quickly following. 

“Wait, I know that sound,” Beca says, stopping. 

“The Box, it’s coming back up,” Amy says. 

“It shouldn’t be,” Chloe says. 

Stacie and CR open the Box, looking in. 

“What do you see?” Someone asks. 

“It’s a boy,” Stacie says, hopping into the Box. 

Everyone looks in. A boy lays on the floor of the Box. 

“I think he’s dead,” Stacie says.

“What’s that in his hand?” CR asks. 

Stacie leans over the boy and grabs the thing in his hand. 

“‘He’s the last one...ever’” Stacie reads. 

Everyone stares in confusion. 

“What the hell does that mean?” Stacie asks. 

The boy gasps awake. 

“Beca…” The boy says before falling unconscious.

Everyone looks over at Beca. 

“Still think I’m overreacting?” CR asks.

Beca looks down at the boy. 

 

 

Later in the day, Stacie, Chloe and Beca walk into the medical building. They pass Aubrey, who is strapped into the bed, and breathing hard. 

“Lily, what’s going on?” Stacie asks, “What’s the matter with him, why won’t he wake up?” 

“Hey, I got my job the same way you did,” Lily says. 

Beca looks down at the boy, Stacie and Chloe looking at her. 

“Do you recognize him?” Stacie asks. 

Beca shakes her head, “No.”

“Really? Because she seemed to recognize you.” Stacie says. 

“What about the note?” Beca asks. 

“We’ll worry about the note later,” Stacie says. 

“I think you should worry about it now,” Beca says. 

“We’ve got enough to deal with at the moment,” Stacie says, glaring at Beca. 

“She’s right,” Lily says, “The Box isn’t coming back up, how long do you think we can last?” 

“No one said that,” Stacie says, “Let’s not jump to any conclusions. We’ll just wait until he wakes up and see what he knows. Somebody has got to have some answers around here.” 

“Okay,” Beca says, turning and walking away. 

“Where are you going?” Stacie asks. 

“Back into the maze,” Beca says. 

Chloe looks at Stacie, before quickly following after Beca. 

“Hey,” Chloe says, trying to stop Beca. 

“Hey, Beca,” Chloe throws her arm out in front of Beca, causing her to stop.

Beca looks at Chloe. 

“What is this with you? Huh? A death wish?” Chloe asks, “You just got out and now you want to go back in?” 

Beca sighs, “Stacie said that no one has ever seen a Griever and lived to tell about it, right?”

Chloe nods. 

“Chloe, now we have one!” Beca says, “You’re telling me you’re not even a little bit curious?” 

Chloe shakes her head, “Not really, no.”

Beca starts walking, only to be stopped by Chloe’s arm, again. 

“So, what’s the plan?” Chloe asks, “You’re going to go out and dissect that thing all by yourself?” 

“I will if I have to,” Beca says, “But I wouldn’t mind your company.” 

Chloe stares at Beca. 

“Have the other runners left yet?” Beca asks. 

“The other runners quit this morning,” Chloe says, “After Aubrey got stung, they're not in any hurry to get back out there. Why are you?”

“I think it’s time we find out what we are really up against,” Beca says. 

Chloe nods, “All right. But you aren’t going back out there alone. Meet me in the woods in half-an-hour,” Chloe says before walking away.

 

 

Beca leans against a tree, her arms crossed over her chest, as she waits for Chloe. 

“Will this be enough?” 

Beca turns and looks at Chloe, three other people with her. 

Beca nods, “Okay. Let’s go.” 

 

 

The five of them reach the dead Griever. One of the mechanical legs sticks out from the wall, and some of the guts are splattered on the ground. 

“That’s disgusting.” 

“Hey, there’s something in there,” Beca says, leaning forward. 

“You mean, besides a Griever pancake?” Emily asks. 

Chloe looks at the Griever, seeing a red light blink. She walks over to the dead Griever. 

“Woah, what are you doing?” 

Chloe reaches in, trying to grab the item. 

All of a sudden, the mechanical leg starts retracting, causing them all to jump back, Beca making sure to grab Chloe, just in case. 

“I thought you said it was dead!” Emily says. 

“Was it reflex?” 

“You hope.” 

“Come on, let’s try and pull it out,” Beca says, grabbing the leg. 

Everyone grabs the leg. 

“All right, on three,” Beca says, “One...Two...Three.” 

They all pull on the leg, grunting. 

The leg finally detaches and falls onto the ground, more guts spilling out of the Griever.

Beca looks and sees Chloe on the ground. 

“You okay?” Beca asks, holding her hand out for Chloe. 

“Yeah,” Beca pulls Chloe up, “Thanks.” 

Chloe walks up to the pile of guts on the ground and grabs one of the organs. She holds it up, the blinking, red light hanging out of it. 

She pulls it out, green goo following it. 

“Ew,” Emily says. 

Chloe smiles down at the object in her hand. 

“What the hell is that?” Beca asks. 

Chloe examines it. There’s a small screen that displays the number seven. 

“Interesting,” Chloe says. 

“Okay, whatever it is, can we take this back to the Glade?” Emily asks, “Because I don’t want to meet this guy’s friends.” 

“She’s right,” Chloe says, “It’s getting late, come on.” 

 

 

“We found this,” Beca says, handing Stacie the object they found in the Griever. 

Stacie grabs the object and looks at it, running her thumb of the seven that is displayed. 

“It was inside a Griever,” Beca says. 

“These are the same letters we get in our supplies,” Stacie says, looking at Beca and Chloe. 

“Whoever put us here obviously made the Grievers,” Beca says, “This is the first real clue you’ve found in over three years. Right, Chloe?”

“Right,” Chloe nods her head. 

“Come on Stacie, we’ve got to go back out there,” Beca says, “Who knows where this might lead us.” 

“You see what she’s trying to do, right?” CR asks. 

Beca looks over at CR, “The only thing I’m trying to do, is find a way to get out of the maze.”

CR looks over at Stacie, “First she breaks our rules, and then she tries to convince us to abandon them totally. The rules are the only thing that have held us together. Why are we questioning that now?”

Everyone looks at CR, “If Aubrey was here, you know she would agree with me. Greenie needs to be punished.”

Stacie looks from CR to Beca, and then down at the object in her hand. Stacie gives the object to Chloe. 

“You’re right,” Stacie says, “Beca broke the rules. One night in the pit, and no food.” 

“Oh come on, Stacie! One night in the pit?” CR complains, “Do you think that’s going to stop her from going into the maze?” 

“No,” Stacie says, “And we can’t just have non-runners running into the maze whenever they feel like it. So let’s make this official. Starting from tomorrow, you’re a runner.”   
Beca turns and smiles at Chloe, getting a smile in return. 

“Wow,” CR shakes her head and walks away. 

“Thanks, Stacie.” 

 

 

Beca follows Chloe through the woods, having no clue where the two are going. 

“Where are we going?” Beca asks.

“You’ll see.”

Soon enough, the two come across a small hut. Chloe opens the door and walks in, quickly followed by Beca. 

There isn’t much to the hut, a few things lying around, and a giant, circular table in the middle. 

Chloe yanks the cloth from the table revealing a tiny maze. 

“It’s the maze,” Chloe says, putting her hands on the table and leaning forward, “All of it.” 

Beca copies Chloe’s stance, “What do you mean ‘all of it’? I thought you were still mapping it.” 

Chloe shakes her head, “There’s nothing left to map.”

Beca looks at Chloe, her mouth open in shock. 

“I’ve run every inch of it myself. Every cycle. Every pattern. If there was a way out, we would have found it by now.” 

“Why...why haven’t you told anyone this?” Beca asks. 

“It was Aubrey’s call,” Chloe says walking over to Beca, “People needed to believe we had a chance of getting out. But maybe now,” Chloe stops right in front of Beca, “We have a real chance.” 

Chloe hands the object from the Griever over to Beca, their hands grazing. 

“Take a look at this,” Chloe motions to the table, “About a year ago, we started exploring these out sections,” Chloe points to the sections, “We found these numbers on the walls. Sections one through eight.”

Beca looks up from the maze and looks at Chloe. 

“See, the way it works, is every night, when the maze changes, it opens up a new section. So today, section six was open. Tomorrow, it will be four, then eight, then three. The pattern always stays the same.” 

Beca looks down at the object in her hand, “What’s so special about seven?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe says, “But last night, when you killed that Griever, section seven was open. I’m assuming, that’s where it comes from. Tomorrow, you and I are going to take a closer look.”

Running footsteps are heard from outside of the hut, two girls running over. 

“Hey! What are you girls doing? You’re not allowed in here,” Chloe says. 

“Sorry, it’s just the uh…” 

“It’s the boy,” The other girl quickly says. 

“Is he awake?” Beca asks. 

“You could say that.” 

 

 

Beca and Chloe run out of the woods. 

“Amy, what’s going on?” Beca asks. 

“Boys are awesome,” Amy says, pointing. 

Beca and Chloe look over and see some of the girls with objects over their heads, protecting themselves from rocks the boy is throwing from the top of the treehut. 

“Leave me alone!” The boy shouts. 

“Hey, throw one more of those things--” CR gets cut off, a rock hitting her head. 

“Go away!” The boy shouts. 

“We come in peace,” Emily says. 

“What happened?” Beca aks, running over. 

“Just duck,” CR says. 

“I don’t think he likes us very much,” Stacie laughs. 

“Look, we just wanna talk,” Beca shouts. 

More rocks are thrown, and everyone goes to take cover. 

“Hey, it’s Beca! It’s Beca!” Beca shouts.

Rocks stop falling and the boy peeks his head out, looking down. 

“I’m gonna come up, okay?” Beca says. 

The boy backs out of sight and Beca takes that as her cue. 

“Okay,” Beca says, “Just me,” She looks back at CR. 

“Alright, I’m coming up,” Beca says, climbing the ladder. 

Chloe smiles, and shakes her head. 

Beca reaches the top, and sees the boy holding a small machete. 

“Whoa,” Beca holds her hands up, “Okay, just uh, easy, I’m not going to hurt you.” 

“Where am I?” The boy asks, “What is this place?”

Beca slowly moves towards the boy. 

“Why can’t I remember anything?” 

“This is all normal, okay. We’ve all been through this,” Beca says, “Your name, that’ll come back to you in a couple of days, it’s the one thing tha-”

“-Jesse,” The boy cuts off. 

“What did you say?” 

“My name...It’s Jesse.”

“Jesse, I’m Beca, but uh, you already knew that, I guess.” 

“They said I kept saying your name in my sleep,” Jesse says, “Who are you?” 

“I don’t know,” Beca says, shrugging, “I can’t remember. None of us here can remember anything. We all woke up here just like you did, I promise,” Beca leans forward and grabs the machete, “I’m going to take this.”

The boy is hesitant, but he lets go, allowing Beca to take it. 

“What’s going on up there?” CR asks. 

Beca looks over the railing of the treehut.

“Is he coming down?” Stacie asks. 

“Uhm,” Beca looks back over at Jesse, “Listen, you guys just give us a second, okay?” 

“All right,” Stacie says, “Come on.” 

“Is this what all boys are like?” Emily asks. 

Chloe looks up, jealousy flowing through her.


End file.
